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| Ready to go... |
It was time to get back on the bikes and make our way towards the coast. Our first destination was Takeo, 80km from Phnom Penh. We were worried about the heat, so set the alarm for 5:45am and were off at 7. Although we knew which road to follow out of the capital city, it was a stressful experience. There was lots of crazy traffic and confusing road signs, and we moved slowly.
The worst part came after a bridge, where I rode past Nico, who was waiting for me at the bottom, and we lost each other. I thought he had gone on ahead and got increasingly worried when I couldn’t see him after about 10 minutes. I didn’t know whether to stop and wait or try to catch him up. Eventually, panicked, I stopped by the side of the road to try and reflect. Luckily, an English cyclist (the first and last one we saw) passed me and then came back two minutes later. “Are you with a guy with a mirror on his helmet?” he asked. “Because he’s waiting for you by the bridge.” I thanked him profusely and turned round. It was a scary experience.
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| Our bikes wait patiently while we eat |
Eventually we left the urban area and rode through an interesting landscape of small villages, forest and the inevitable rice fields. There was not much traffic and we made good time, but the road was in quite poor condition in some parts and it was a bumpy ride with no suspension. We stopped at 10am for food in a newly built restaurant. I had sour fish soup and Nico had beef and rice. I won.
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| And relax. |
We arrived at 1:30pm into Takeo and were pleasantly surprised. It was a sleepy town next to a huge lake and we found a guesthouse with a big balcony looking out over it. After lunch in a restaurant built out over the lake, we went for a walk around. Sat by the lake, we met a man who was a chef in a 5* hotel in Sihanoukville and chatted to him for a bit. The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully.
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